Klamath Riverkeeper - Send Comments to California Water Board

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Tell the California Water Board you want a dam-free Klamath!

You must send this message before February 23, 2009!

Dear Ms. Watts,

Thank you for your hard work protecting California's water resources. Here are the issues I believe should be examined as California prepares an EIR for PacifiCorp's Klamath dams.

1. The FERC EIS did not properly review environmental justice and public health impacts caused by the dams. Rural Californians, Native Tribes, commercial fishermen, and local businesses suffer from declining fish runs, toxic algae, and poor water quality. Please document and prioritize these impacts in California's EIR.

2. Expert science shows that dam removal is the cheapest and most effective way to solve water quality issues on the Klamath, and begin restoration of the River's once-abundant salmon runs. Please do not issue a 401 permit for these dams! Instead, advance a realistic and well-supported alternative that calls for the removal of PacifiCorp's dams on the Klamath River. Also, in the same way that Oregon and California work together to implement TMDLs, the states should work together to properly regulate the impacts of the Klamath Hydro Project as a whole. Please include the removal of JC Boyle dam in your EIR range of alternatives. Also, please be sure to evaluate the full costs of all alternatives, including mitigation measures that may not have been calculated in FERC's EIS.

3. The Water Board must consider and implement all Tribal Clean Water Act standards, including those from the Hoopa Valley, Yurok, and Karuk Tribes. The Hoopa Valley Tribe's standards have been approved by the US EPA, and so must be incorporated in the Water Board's standards by law.

4. The baseline against which water quality impacts is measured should be a free-flowing Klamath River with no dams in place. It is absurd to view the Klamath Hydro Project as a natural, baseline state of the Klamath River.

PacifiCorp has already stalled the restoration of this amazing river far too long. Please do everything in your power to expedite the removal of PacifiCorp's dams, and to hold PacifiCorp accountable for their water quality violations in the interim.

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